DETROIT – Jimmy Howard’s numbers aren’t as impressive as his All-Star campaign a season ago, but the Wings know he’s come up big quite often for them this year.

“We have a solid goalie back there and he’s been that way all season,” Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “In my opinion, I don’t care much about stats and numbers, we know what he can do and he’s been great for us many years and will be great for us many years to come.”

Howard again was stellar in a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday night.

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He had two huge saves in the third period.

John Mitchell had the first chance. All alone in front of the Wings’ goalie, Mitchell had Howard down on the ice, but couldn’t get his backhand over his outstretched glove hand.

Howard then stoned PA Parenteau with a partial glove save on a breakaway that seemed to put an exclamation point on what would have been his 13th career shutout.

“He bailed us out, if it weren’t for him we probably wouldn’t have won that game,” defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. “He’s been stellar for us. He’s given us a chance to win every night. He did it last year. He’s doing it again this year. He’s come up with some huge saves and he doesn’t always get the credit that he deserves, but he has been playing unreal for us.”

Howard is 9-7-3 this season with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.

“Jimmy’s played some really good games and hasn’t been as good in others,” Wings coach Mike Babcock said. “Howie will be the first to tell you, he’s got to be as good every night as he was (Tuesday night). Then you have the numbers to reflect how you are.”

Howard went 35-17-4 last season, with a .920 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. He also had six shutouts.

“It starts with Jimmy,” forward Patrick Eaves said. “He’s been playing great. The opportunities they have been getting, he’s been stopping them. (Colorado) got behind our D once or twice and he was there.”

Howard’s workload has been more than what the Wings had hoped went the shortened season began. A lingering groin injury to Jonas Gustavsson has forced Howard to appear in 20 of the Wings’ 23 games this season.

“He’s been playing a lot of games,” Zetterberg said. “It’s tough to do with this schedule. He’s finding a way to give us a chance to win games. We haven’t been stellar on the goal scoring part, but he still gives us a chance.”

Howard is in the final year of a two-year deal that’s paying him $2.25 million a season.

The last time Howard was in the final year of a contract he admitted it became a distraction for him on the ice.

Howard, who will turn 29 at the end of the month, said earlier this year that won’t repeat itself this time around.

“It was a learning experience last time,” Howard said. “It was the first time I’ve ever been through something like that and it took a toll on me. But, now it seems like it’s the farthest thing I’m thinking about. You don’t have time to think about it.”

Howard began the season as the 27th-highest-paid goalie in the league.

If no deal gets done, Howard will become an unrestricted free agent on July 5.

“I like that he’s a workhorse,” Wings general manager Ken Holland has said of Howard. “He’s a guy we can put in net night after night. We drafted him, we developed him and we watched him grow as a goaltender. His prime years are ahead of him.”

Howard, who was drafted by the Wings in 2003, wants to stay in Detroit.

“This is where I’d love to be,” Howard said. “I got a lot of great friendships within this dressing room. We’ve had a lot of great success in here and I enjoy playing here.”

Injury updates

Forward Darren Helm (back) seems to be progressing in the right direction, skating a little on his own the past three days. He’ll continue to do so if no setbacks occur.

“He pushed it harder today than yesterday,” Wings GM Ken Holland said. “He’ll wake up (Thursday) and see how it feels. I’d say he’s at least a couple of weeks away. It’s not only the back, it’s the conditioning.”

Helm, who saw a specialist in New York on Feb. 25 and a small tear in his disc was found, hadn’t skated since Jan. 26.

“(We’re) a lot more optimistic about him than a week ago,” Holland said. “Doctor felt it was a 6-8 week injury. We’re sitting at five weeks.”

Helm has played one game this season, Jan. 25 against the Minnesota Wild.

Forward Valtteri Filppula (left shoulder) and defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo (sprained left shoulder) are both out through the weekend and hope to return when the Wings make a three-game trip to western Canada beginning Tuesday.

“We hope (Filppula) is ready, but it’s not written in stone,” Holland said. “(Colaiacovo) is close. We want him both physically and mentally ready to go so we may as well err on the side of caution. He doesn’t want to come back and get hurt and be out another six weeks. The way our defense is playing, I’d rather be 100 percent sure.”

Forward Mikael Samuelsson (broken left index finger) is out a couple more weeks.

There is no timetable for forward Todd Bertuzzi (back inflammation). “We just have to give it more time,” Holland said.

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